The story begins in The People's Parliament blog run by Haris who had posted a Malaysia Insider quote attributed to Dr. Mahathir as saying that " “If there was no social contract, the terms and conditions of allowing citizenship to non-Malays would have not taken place. One million outsiders were given citizenships at the time.”
Now, that got Harris curious and he goes on to probe that statement further in his blog. And his...err..." investigations" reveal some surprising details.
Raja Petra also has a link to the post here.
Like Harris and I suspect many Malaysians, I don't give a hoot what, who, or from where we supposedly (pre and post Merdeka pendatangs, citizens or whatever we chose to call ourselves) came from. The fact is we are here. And I suspect that those of us who have remained here have either simply accepted there is no choice (and if you look at wherever we came from, is the grass really green on the other side?) or that we'd stay back and fight for our rights. For ALL of us.
Unfortunately, the good doc continues to play the "race" stunt every time something doesn't go according to his plan.
Which is why Robert S. Mendelsohn's (himself another M.D.) words sound so chillingly right: “The reason doctors are so dangerous is that they believe in what they are doing.”
Which is why Robert S. Mendelsohn's (himself another M.D.) words sound so chillingly right: “The reason doctors are so dangerous is that they believe in what they are doing.”
The MI quote above is merely Dr. Mahathir's latest yarn. But, here we are, and especially after a watershed election, and despite all that's happened to us over the course of the past 30 years, many of us are trying, in our own ways, to make things right, make things better, trying to be fair to all, and trying to build a new way forward. Admittedly, this is going to take time, given the fact that there is so much damage that needs to be undone.
The people at the grassroots seem to have accepted the reality of the situation that we find ourselves in. Which is one reason why, despite all the recent provocations, the people have largely refrained from "ultra" reactions with the exception of the extremists which exist in any society. The problem is that we have let the politicians (and who may be doctors too!) dictate too much what this country is all about and the direction we in are headed as a nation.
When public men indulge themselves in abuse, when they deny others a fair trial, when they resort to innuendo and insinuation, to libel, scandal, and suspicion, then our democratic society is outraged, and democracy is baffled. - J. Wiiliam Fulbright.
Which is why I totally agree with Susan who had this tag on her blog, "Politicians should be changed often, and for the same reasons!"
The people at the grassroots seem to have accepted the reality of the situation that we find ourselves in. Which is one reason why, despite all the recent provocations, the people have largely refrained from "ultra" reactions with the exception of the extremists which exist in any society. The problem is that we have let the politicians (and who may be doctors too!) dictate too much what this country is all about and the direction we in are headed as a nation.
When public men indulge themselves in abuse, when they deny others a fair trial, when they resort to innuendo and insinuation, to libel, scandal, and suspicion, then our democratic society is outraged, and democracy is baffled. - J. Wiiliam Fulbright.
Which is why I totally agree with Susan who had this tag on her blog, "Politicians should be changed often, and for the same reasons!"
Meantime, since it's Saturday.... it would good to just take some time out, thank God for all that we already have, and chill out with The Young Rascals' video "Good Lovin" - heard asking the family doc for advice right here!
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